DC Showcase: The Spectre is a 2010 short animated film, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos and written by Steve Niles, Gary Cole played Detective Jim Corrigan, whose suspects are brought to justice by his alter-ego the Spectre. The film, which was released on February 23, 2010 as a bonus feature on the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths DVD, was the first of the DC Showcase series and was included on the compilation DVD DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection in an extended version.

Plot

Foster Brenner, a successful film producer, is killed by a bomb hidden underneath the diving board of his swimming pool. Los Angeles Police Department detective Jim Corrigan, who was having a relationship with Foster's daughter Aimee, starts investigating despite the case having been assigned to another officer. Jim interviews Flemming, Brenner's butler, who shows him security footage of two men in ski masks entering the complex and placing the bomb. Jim asks if Brenner had any enemies, and Flemming replies that any man so wealthy and powerful has many. He tells him that several of Brenner's longtime collaborators were excluded in his latest films and were very unhappy about it.

That night at a special effects warehouse, Drew Flynn sees the late Foster, who accuses him of his murder and transforms into the Spectre, who uses his powers to animate the models and animatronic film monsters to attack Flynn, and kills him with a gigantic gorilla robot. The Spectre confronts and kills Peter McCoy by controlling his car that repairs itself and crushes him, before taking a suitcase of money.

Arriving at Aimee's house undetected by phasing through the wall, Jim tells Aimee that she is good enough to be an actress in her father's movies. Learning that Aimee was responsible for giving the correct access code for her father's estate to Flynn and McCoy, Jim opens the briefcase with her father's money. Aimee asks Jim that they will get together while she rummages the pistol from the desk drawer, but Jim refuses. Aimee fails to attack Jim, who transforms into the Spectre and kills her by engulfing her in a tornado of money, avenging her father's death.

Jim calmly walks away as the police arrive while they cannot see him. Jim narrates that his job is to root out evil, that he is justice and being the Spectre.